Library Service Delivery Management of National Institute of Development Administration

Abstract

Sukum Navapan Library is the largest graduate-level intellectual resource-hub of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok-Thailand. It provides support to escalate capacity of research, training, teaching, and academic services in development and business administrations. The case study concern was whether the graduate and Ph.D. students of the institute were facing any intricacy associated with this library service delivery that could have affected students' learning life. The case observation period was August 2016 to July 2017, while the study execution period was June -July 2017. The purpose of this study was to develop a teaching case by qualitatively exploring the research concern. The study contributed to management-science learning and practice. NIDA context-specific dilemma with the library service-delivery and associated trade-off decisions seemed to be central to the analysis of the case. From the practical point of view, the case identified the problems associated with the library service-delivery management practices and their significance to the student learning life and reading behavior, which in turn might have provided the NIDA library management a practical lesson to review the approach and practice. Considering the research problem stated above, four case research questions were tailored here: i) What problems were associated with the NIDA library service delivery? ii) Did those lead to the service dissatisfaction of students? iii) How did those problems and service dissatisfaction affect student reading behavior and learning life?

Theoretical Frame:  The case study followed the maintenance management theory, especially its process school of thought. “The maintenance management is a relatively young academic discipline” (Visser, 1998). “The maintenance process school is concerned with identifying all of the aspects of the management of maintenance. It considers other techniques as tools to be used to achieve the outcomes of maintenance management” (Anderson, 2009). There were three concerns to examine in this study under the frame of this theory:  the library policy and system design spectacles in the comprehensive operations management of the library, issues and problems in the library service delivery and their consequences, and solution options.   Methods: The research employed the qualitative case study method. This case study included several data collection techniques: Participant observations, literature review, and in-depth interview. Relevant Teaching Courses: Undergraduate level courses - Management, Operations Management, Knowledge Management,  Library Science, and Entrepreneurship Development; Graduate level courses - Strategic Management, and Leadership and Management in Organizations.